
The Sprint Backlog – Part 4
Creating The Sprint Backlog
The Scrum Sprint backlog is a list of tasks from the product backlog that the team has decided to be completed during the next sprint. The tasks and the order of their completion are decided by the Product Owner. The Product Owner is the voice of the customers, aimed at creating maximum value with each sprint.
In essence, the act of creating the sprint backlog is very straightforward. You take the product backlog where all the tasks are estimated and in a prioritized order, and you draw a line. All the tasks above the line go to the sprint backlog and are committed to being delivered during the next sprint. The rest of the tasks remain in the product backlog waiting for the next sprints.
In practice though, drawing the line / creating the sprint backlog is just one small step in a list of many things to do and consider.
This article goes over the aspects of creating the sprint backlog from the perspective of the product owner.
Creating the user stories
The Product Owner is the voice of the customer. The Product Owners daily job is to create user stories based on the input from users, customers, internal stakeholders and the product vision. These user stories then get complexity estimations from the developers and priority in the backlog based on the balance between the value created and the effort needed.
Backlog Prioritization
Backlog prioritization (sometimes also referred to as backlog refinement or backlog management) is a Scrum ceremony owned by the Product Owner. The purpose of the meeting is to keep the product backlog estimated and in order – making sure that all stories are still relevant, estimated and ready for delivery by the team.
59 Seconds Training Video
Master of Agile – Agile Scrum Developer With 59 Seconds Agile (Video Training Course)
Introductory Offer: Free Course
Master of Agile – Agile Scrum Developer With 59 Seconds Agile (Video Training Course)
What is this course?
This ‘Master of Agile – Agile Scrum Developer With 59 Seconds Agile (Video Training Course)’ provides an in-depth understanding of the Agile Scrum Developer roles and responsibilities
You will explore the Agile Scrum project life-cycle, including how an Agile User Story is created, to how we know when it is ‘done’
This course is aimed at those with or without prior knowledge and experience of the Agile values and principles
During this course you will learn the tools needed to succeed as an Agile Scrum Developer
What will you learn?
You will gain an in-depth understanding of the Agile Scrum Developer roles and responsibilities, and you will be able to
- Fully understand the role of the Agile Scrum Developer
- Understand the roles involved in an Agile project
- Create an effective Product Backlog
- Effectively participate in Scrum Meetings such as the Daily Stand-up, Sprint Review and Retrospective
- Identify the roles involves in the Scrum Team

What topics are covered within this course
You will cover the following topics during this course:
- An Introduction to Agile Project Management (Developer)
- The 12 Agile Principles (Developer)
- Introduction to Scrum (Developer)
- Scrum Project Roles (Developer)
- The Agile Project Life-cycle (Developer)
- Acceptance Criteria and the Prioritised Product Backlog (Developer)
- Initiating an Agile Project (Developer)
- Forming the Scrum Team (Developer)
- Epics and Personas (Developer)
- User Stories and Tasks (Developer)
- Implementation of Scrum (Developer)
- The Daily Scrum (Developer)
- The Product Backlog (Developer)
- Scrum Charts (Developer)
- Review and Retrospective (Developer)
- Validating a Sprint (Developer)
- Retrospective Sprint (Developer)
- Releasing the Product (Developer)
- The Communication Plan (Developer)
- Formal Business Sign-off (Developer)
Our Book Recommendations
We found these books great for finding out more information on Agile Scrum: